Sunday, January 12, 2025
The students of Turtle Hook Middle School spent only two months preparing for “Middle School Madness,” the play they performed on Nov. 12. The production included 14 students, who were all nervous, excited and proud.
“Middle School Madness” is a collection of scenes and monologues by Bette Glenn “celebrating the middle school experience,” according to Glenn’s website.
The main reason Celeste Cruz, music educator at Turtle Hook, chose this play is because of the message that comes through the many short scenes that express the difficulties of being a middle school student.
“Middle school challenges are a real thing,” Cruz said. “Some may call it madness. It’s a challenge but in the end we all kind of come together and work it out.”
The process of the production started with Cruz in the summer. She read the scripts over and over, studied the character analysis for each character, and prepared for auditions. Then in September, she picked a student director — Deann Barrow — and stage managers before she let the rest of the kids audition. The kids were given the character analysis and auditioned exclusively for Cruz and the student director.
“Sometimes, because there are so many different challenges, I have to make sure it works within the confines of what we’re doing so the students can be successful,” Dr. Cruz said. “The most important thing to me is that the students experience a well-rounded opportunity for teamwork and the production being something that they come together to perform.
Barrow originally wanted to be in the play as an actor, but she agreed to be the student director, and she said she was ultimately happy with her choice.
“For me it was different from other students, because I’m the student director,” Barrow said. “It was some days challenging, because not everyone wanted to listen. But when everyone did listen, it was a very smooth rehearsal and we all got through it.”
Gabby Petgrave also didn’t get the first part she auditioned for — her identical twin sister Abby did.
“Some days I forgot my lines, but then I got right back to them,” Gabby said. “And I’m kind of glad that I remembered them now.”
“Rehearsal was very hard, because we had a lot of other clubs,” Abby added. “It was kind of mixed sometimes (but) it helped us come to where we are right now.”
All the students were nervous about performing in front of a crowd. For some it was their first time on stage, while others were seasoned veterans.
“I’m used to performing, because I’m in cheer and dance,” said Kaya-Lee Richards, a student actor. “I still get nervous, so it’s alright. It was fun.”
Everyone involved, including the audience, understood the deeper message of the play that Cruz wanted to impart.
“You can clearly see middle school kids are overwhelmed,” Wanda Henry Barrow, mother of the student director, said after the play. “So I think they did a good job at pointing that out. You know a lot is going on with them. It’s eye-opening.”
